Austin A. Davis

President of the Senate

Biography

Career

Growing up in the Mon Valley in western Pennsylvania – a historic industrial center just south of the City of Pittsburgh – Lt. Governor Austin Davis saw the struggles of working families firsthand. He watched his mom – a hairdresser in McKeesport for more than 40 years – juggle raising a family by putting food on the table. He watched his dad work hard every day as an ATU bus driver. Austin knew from an early age he wanted to dedicate his life and career to public service. Throughout his career, he has fought for economic equality, worked to lift people out of poverty and secure fair funding for education, and has been committed to bettering the lives of people in western Pennsylvania. Austin is a first-generation college graduate in his family. After studying political science at the University of Pittsburgh, he began pursuing a career in public service. By age 21, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review called him “a veteran at the politics of helping others.” After college, Austin joined the office of the Allegheny County Executive, spearheading the office’s vision and transition teams in the early days of the administration and serving as the office’s representative on the Jail Oversight Board, the Minority, Women, and Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Advisory Board, and the Shuman Detention Center Advisory Board. In 2018, Austin successfully ran for the state House of Representatives. He became the first western Pennsylvania African-American to serve as state representative outside of the City of Pittsburgh. In 2022, Austin successfully ran and won the nomination for Lt. Governor alongside then-Attorney General Josh Shapiro, subsequently being elected as Pennsylvania’s 35th and first African-American Lt. Governor. Additionally, Lt. Governor Davis is our nation’s youngest sitting Lt. Governor. Lt. Governor Davis currently resides in McKeesport with his wife, Blayre Holmes Davis, an executive with the Pittsburgh Steelers.